Color is not always on the walls…

Whitman College undertook a major renovation of its most iconic building, the Memorial ‘Clock Tower’ Building, and the work was completed in the fall. Built in 1899 it is a truly beautiful building that sits in the heart of the campus, complete with all the architectural detail so generously used during its day. I am usually hired to create color palettes for the many buildings Whitman is constantly improving on and adjacent to campus, but this time I headed in a very different direction. When the structural renovations were completed they wanted the new main entrance to the building to have a colorful tiled floor that would be period authentic. Encaustic tile was the type of tile that would have been used in the original construction, and it is still handmade in England to this day. Unfortunately it was cost prohibitive, so I set out to create the same look and colors using more current materials. I did a lot of research into the patterns, colors and applications used at the turn of the century and here is what I came up with. The colors integrate nicely with the surrounding columns, bricks and concrete steps and add just the right amount of color and authenticity to the entrance.